#lawfedi

I spent all day on election activism. There’s a county clerk here who is interfering with duly appointed election watchers’ access to the polls. I was settling down for the evening, when I read this opinion and it reminded me of why I am working so hard to make sure the U.S. election is free and fair and the results are respected and implemented. The opinion is an order to make ICE bring back a man they kidnapped and flew to Equatorial Guinea. The author is a Trump appointed judge. 1/ #LawFedi

RE: https://mastodon.social/@blogdiva/117363288170708374 The Roberts 6 lifted an administrative stay granted by the 6th Circuit so it could consider Christa Pike’s appeal of being sentenced to death. In other words, they refused to allow a pending claim for relief to be heard, allowing tonight’s horribly botched attempt to kill Pike. They are ethically bankrupt, corrupt, and lawless. Unless and until they are removed by impeachment or disempowered by court reform, the federal judicial branch is compromised. 1/ #LawFedi

The latest Lawyer Ex Machina is out: more hacking attempts by OpenAI agents target university and government websites; Kalshi asks the CFTC to allow margin trading on its platform; Google sued over AI Overviews; more about the FBI hack; and what is Jev? #lawfedi #lawlibrarians #legaltech https://buttondown.com/LawyerExMachina/archive/ai-overviews-are-not-facts-per-google/

Another court rejects a Trump regime effort to get a state’s voter roll. https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/96-2026-09-22-Order.pdf #LawFedi

There is going to be important election related litigation news virtually every day between now and early January, at least. Here’s a doozy. The 8th Circuit today decided to override the Missouri Supreme Court and once again insist the state use a map gerrymandered to eliminate a majority-black Congressional district. 1/ #LawFedi https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/missouri-again-ordered-to-use-gerrymandered-map-supreme-court-likely-to-decide/

I have combined my initial thoughts on the EU KIDS Act proposal into one blogpost: https://neilzone.co.uk/2026/09/initial-thoughts-on-the-eu-kids-act/ What a mess. I imagine that some fedi service providers will want to track this carefully or, better still, lobby to see what can be done about it... #lawfedi #blog #EUKIDSAct

The Trump regime’s apparent refusal to obey a court order not to close down or rename the Kennedy Center matters well beyond preservation of the building and its Congressionally approved name. The regime is showing us all, less than eight weeks from the midterms, that it is willing to brazenly flout judicial orders as well as any given statute it chooses to. 1/ #LawFedi

New blogpost: "Initial thoughts on the Social Media Platforms (Ofcom Licensing) Bill" I try to think the best of people and their intentions, so this might be just one big mistake, but honestly, wow... I cannot imagine someone attempting, with a straight face, to impose strict criminal liability on cafe and pub owners, for what their customers say. https://neilzone.co.uk/2026/09/initial-thoughts-on-the-social-media-platforms-ofcom-licensing-bill/ #OnlineSafetyAct #lawfedi #blog

this is what an unwanted secession, forced by law and federal funding cuts, looks like: ❝ Starting October 1, the federal government will cover only 25% of state and local administrative costs for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, down from the 50% match it has provided for years.❞ » Westchester Food Banks Warn $168M SNAP Cost Shift Will Empty Shelves https://hoodline.com/2026/09/westchester-food-banks-warn-168m-snap-cost-shift-will-empty-shelves/ #NYS #LawFedi #USpol #SNAP #USCivilWar2

The Roberts Court has issued a shadow docket ruling in USPS v. California, rejecting the Trump regime’s request for a stay of lower court judges’ preliminary injunctions prohibiting USPS from implementing a Final Rule meant to take over vote-from-home (absentee/mail voting). 1/ #LawFedi

There is a new toolkit

to help law schools, law firms and other organisations design and develop effective partnerships and initiatives that widen access to the solicitors' profession for people from underrepresented backgrounds.

I don't know how many, if any, people who'd like to be a solicitor in England and Wales are in the fediverse, but if you are one of them, I'm always happy to find time to have a chat (audio or video, as you wish) about my experience, talk about "commercial awareness" etc.

(I can't offer placements, work experience/shadowing, and the like.)

#lawfedi #DEI

https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/resources/equality-diversity/toolkit-partnerships-initiatives/

The D.C. District Court, which had previously rejected challenges to Trump/USPS effort to take over vote-from-home (“mail-in” voting) as unripe, has now joined the Mass. District Court and 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, and decided Trump/USPS are acting unlawfully and unconstitutionally. 1/ #LawFedi

On 9/10, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in League of Women Voters/California v. Trump, litigation over Trump regime’s effort to take over vote-from-home via USPS regulations. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.305406/gov.uscourts.mad.305406.168.0.pdf Because this litigation is confusing, quick recap on where things stand as of this thread. Federal District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction against Trump/USPS measures going into effect. 1/ #LawFedi

I’m reading some of the briefs that have been filed with the Roberts Court re the Trump regime’s effort to get the Roberts Six to stay Judge Talwani’s preliminary injunction prohibiting Trump and USPS from taking over vote-from-home in the 2026 election. Yiddish has now entered the chat! Here’s a quote from an amicus brief submitted on behalf of the states. 1/ #LawFedi

Ok, take a deep breath everyone. I’m going to try to explain what is going on in California v. Trump/League of Women Voters v. Trump, the combined cases being heard by Judge Indira Talwani in the Massachusetts District Court, challenging Trump and USPS efforts to take over vote-from-home and disrupt the general election. 1/ #LawFedi

Today, federal District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued a 14 day emergency stay on USPS preparing to implement or implementing its now final rule attempting to control how states mail out ballots to vote-from-home voters. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.298449/gov.uscourts.mad.298449.218.0_1.pdf 1/ #LawFedi

New blogpost:

On lawyers, ethics, and integrity

Some notes on a new book about ethics in the legal profession following the Post Office scandal.

I'd be particularly interested to hear what training or reading on ethics you, personally, have found interesting or inspiring? (Especially in professions other than law.)

https://neilzone.co.uk/2026/08/on-lawyers-ethics-and-integrity/

#ethics #CPD #lawfedi

John Roberts did Trump’s bidding on Friday, administratively staying a lower court order halting ballroom construction while the merits of the case are tried. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/us-chief-justice-lets-trump-keep-building-ballroom-for-now Except for the fact that Roberts is lawless, this is weird because such stays are meant to preserve the status quo. I would have thought the status quo is a barely built structure, rather than a huge one with a bunker being completed. #LawFedi

RE: https://mastodon.social/@heidilifeldman/117016929580160902 Lots of people asking if Hearn can sue for damages. There are many obstacles to him being able to bring suit against the prosecutors, fewer to bringing suit against Park Police. Generally speaking, federal prosecutors enjoy very broad immunity from suits alleging harm arising from prosecutorial acts such as seeking an indictment. 1/ #LawFedi

The U.S. Attorney for DC, Jeanine Pirro, has had to dismiss its indictment of Davey Hearn, the Olympian the Trump regime accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool. The motion to dismiss is something else. 1/ https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28528042/260731-hearn.pdf #LawFedi